Key Takeaways
- Google paused the Wear OS 5 update for Pixel Watches due to reports of soft-bricking.
- The company has now provided an update on the update’s rollout for the Pixel Watch and Watch 2.
- It says Wear OS 5 for the Pixel Watch 1 and 2 will now arrive “later this year.”
After initially debuting on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 series in mid-July, Google commenced the rollout of Wear OS 5 for the Pixel Watch and Pixel Watch 2 in late September. But within days of the firmware going live, reports started pouring in from Pixel users about the update soft-bricking their watch. To prevent further damage, the company pulled the update and paused its rollout. Unfortunately, if you were hoping Google would swiftly fix the soft-bricking issue and release an updated Wear OS 5 build for the Pixel Watch, that might not happen.
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In a post on Google’s support forums, a Google Community Manager confirmed pausing Wear OS 5’s release for the Pixel Watch and Pixel Watch 2 on September 26, 2024, following black screen reports. The company now plans to “resume the WearOS 5 rollout to these devices later this year” after fixing the issue.
Google did not provide a detailed reasoning behind this presumably long delay in fixing the problem and resuming Wear OS 5’s release for its first two Pixel Watches. It is also unclear whether the company will release new monthly security updates for the Pixel Watch until then.
If your Pixel Watch was soft-bricked while trying to install the Wear OS 5 update, Google recommends factory resetting it to get it back in a working state.
Google might re-release Wear OS 5 for the Pixel Watch and Watch 2 alongside Android 15 for Pixel phones. Reports suggest the latter might drop on October 15, so Google might release the fixed Wear OS 5 build on the same day as well.
Wear OS 5 refines the Pixel Watch experience
I manually pulled and installed the Wear OS 5 update on my Pixel Watch 2 the day the rollout started, and thankfully, it installed just fine. The new build has improved general system performance and introduced smoother animations, further refining the experience of using the Pixel Watch.
Most of the other changes are minor and don’t immediately stand out. The new grid view for the app drawer is the only exception, as it makes scrolling through all installed apps on the Pixel Watch much faster.